


darling we're all a little splintered and battered

by cruci_fics



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 12:59:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19724146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruci_fics/pseuds/cruci_fics
Summary: Peter's nightmares after the events of Mysterio are only getting worse, and there's only one person who can help calm him down.





	darling we're all a little splintered and battered

**Author's Note:**

> obvious spoilers from ffh! title is from the song front porch by joy williams. go listen to it and think about spideychelle and tell me you don't want to walk into the ocean

_"You'll never be good enough."_

_"You couldn't save him."_

_"Do you really think you can outsmart me?"_

_"You let him die."_

Peter shot up in bed, the sheets a tangled mess at his feet as the image of the zombie Iron suit lingered at the edge of his vision. He fell back on his pillow and tried to slow the gasping breaths escaping him. 

Every night the dreams were getting more real, and every night Peter felt the sting of being manipulated and betrayed all over again. This one was worse than the one last night. And the night before. 

He felt like he was back in the hallucination - everything so vivid and raw and _real_. 

The more he thought about it, the more he worked himself up, and the more tears sprang in the corner of his eyes. 

He reached blindly for his phone on the edge of the nightstand and did the only thing he could think of. 

"Hello?" 

Just hearing her voice sent a wave of calm over Peter's body. He exhaled shakily. 

"Hey-hey MJ, sorry did I wake you?" 

"No, I'm up reading. Is everything okay? You sound all pant-y." 

Peter tried to slow down his breathing and explain, but the words wouldn't come. Thankfully, MJ could read him without even having to see his face. 

"Nightmares?" her voice was soft.

"Yeah." 

There was shuffling on the other end of the line. 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

Peter listened to her quiet breathing for a moment, making an effort to match it with his own. "What are you reading?" he asked.

She hummed. " _The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York_ by Deborah Blum." 

"That sounds...interesting."

"Do you want me to read to you?" 

The corners of Peter's mouth pulled up. "Sure." 

MJ cleared her throat. "Alright, settle in." 

Peter wiggled down and pulled the covers up to his chin, keeping the phone held to one ear. "Mmkay, I'm ready." he mumbled against the pillow.

"' _Until the early nineteenth century few tools existed to detect toxic substances in a corpse..'_ " 

Peter didn't know how long he stayed awake listening, but eventually the soft lull of her voice slowed his breathing and let him drift off into sleep.

The next few nights continued like this, Peter calling MJ and her reading whatever strange book she had to him until he fell back asleep. Only the dreams started getting worse.   
The one from the night before had been so bad, that Peter was actually _afraid_ to go to sleep again. 

Peter innocently asked MJ over to hang out, and thankfully she agreed. Not only that, but she asked to spend the night without any prompting from him- for which he was grateful. He was also grateful for the fact that Aunt May was over at Happy's that night ( _blegh_ ) so he didn't have to deal with any 'open door policies'.

As the night got later, Peter felt the dread of sleepiness creep over him. The two were watching a movie in the living room when it really started to take him. Peter was sitting on the floor up against the couch and MJ's fingers were methodically combing through his hair from where she was curled on the sofa above him and his eyes fought to stay open. Pretty soon he was drifting off into what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep...

MJ woke suddenly, startled out of sleep by the yell that came inches from her face. It took her a split second to realize what was happening. 

"Peter, Peter wake up." she touched his shoulder and he woke with a start. She let her eyes adjust in the dark, and saw the tears steadily falling down his cheeks. 

"Hey, hey," MJ's heart clenched as Peter's body shook with sobs. She slid down behind him so that her chest was pressed up against his back and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Hey, it was just a dream." 

Peter collapsed against her chest with a gasping breath, unable to stop the sobs wracking his body. He clung to her arms and turned to bury his face against her neck.   
MJ felt like she couldn't breathe--the hurt coming off him was excruciatingly palpable. She pressed a kiss to the crown of his head and continued to whisper calming things in his ear. "You're okay, you're safe. I've got you." she rubbed gentle circles on his shoulders and down his back. 

Peter lifted his head to look at her. "H-e, he had you-he killed--MJ he--it was so real--" he broke off hoarsely as another round of sobs overtook him. 

Tears sprang in MJ's eyes and she grabbed the back of his head to pull him back against her. "I'm okay, I'm right here." she pressed another kiss to his temple, and then one to his cheek. "Shh," MJ ran her hand down to interlace their fingers and pull them to her heart. "See? Living and breathing." 

Peter felt the steady beating of her heart and tried to calm his own, matching his breathing with the rise and fall of her chest. Eventually the sobs subsided and he relaxed in her arms.

They stayed like that for what felt like forever, until MJ gently nudged him with her head. "Hey," she whispered. "C'mon." she pulled him up with her and led him back to his room, silently closing the door behind them. Peter felt blindly for his bed and sank onto the mattress. He tried to subtly wipe his tears away, but thought it pretty much useless at this point. MJ climbed onto the bed and gathered him up in her arms again. This time she had something in her hand. He got situated with his head resting on her abdomen and watched as she opened the book and began to read in the dim light of his bedside lamp. 

"' _Once upon a time in midwinter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat sewing at her window_ ,-'" 

Peter interrupted her hoarsely. "Is this Snow White?" 

"Hush," MJ pushed his hair back from his forehead and leaned over to press a kiss to it. "' _As she sewed she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle..._ '"

The late morning light woke Peter, as well as the warm weight of his girlfriends torso flung over most of his body. He gently shook her hip. "MJ, wake up." 

Her head shot up and squinted at him through a mop of curls going every which direction. "Huh?" 

Peter stifled a laugh. "Good morning, beautiful."

MJ groaned and flopped back down on the bed. 

Peter moved to lay his head on top of hers and whispered. "I think that was the best sleep I've ever had." MJ was quiet for so long, Peter thought she'd fallen back asleep. "Snow White really did it for you, huh?" she said.

He pressed his forehead to the back of her neck and laughed. "No, I don't think it was that." 

MJ rolled over to face him. He hovered over her with a shy grin. "Thank you." he said."For last night." 

She pulled him down and brushed her lips against his. "Anytime, Parker."


End file.
